Improved brick-kiln



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Brick Kiln. No. 92,923. l Patented July 2o, 1869.

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ALFRED J. WORKS, or FAIRv HAVE-N, coNNEcrrcUT';

i Letters Patent No'. 92,923, dated July 20, 1869; antedatecl January 20, 1869.

IMPROVE'D .BRIcx-KILN.

The Schedule referred-to in these Letters Patent and making p'art of the same.

To all whom tt mel/y concern :I

Be it known that I, ALFRED J. WORKS, of Fair Haven, county of New Haven, and State of Connec ticut, have linvented a new and useful Method of Oon-` kiln constructed separate and apart from each other, but operating together. Each kiln, or rather series of kiln s, when intended for brick, is constructed in two or more compartments, with double partition-walls, enclosing a sufficient space between to allowthe ready l passage of heat from one chamber .'c, the other, the

same beingregulated by valves or dampers therein, and thus, while the bricks are being burned in the chamber nearest the furnace, the waste heat is all conducted into the adjoining compartment, and there saved and made to do duty again in drying and prepar'ingthe wet bricks for burning.

But a most novel and useful feature of this invention consists ot' a heatdistributing reservoir, upon and forming part of' each truck or platform-car, and used alike in the drying and burning-chambers.

The great advantage secured by this invention may, perhaps, be better understood by adverting briefly to existing methods for burning brick, and their admitted serious defects. l Y

The system of burning andY drying almost universally in use now, is identical with that in vogue two! thousand years ago, little or no improvement beig visible. X

Veather permitting, the bricks are dried in the sun, then burned in immense out-door stacks, where it is well known that only about one-fifth part of the heat generated is made available; four-fifths (g) ofthe fuel used, therefore, are entirely wasted, besides, in rainy seasons, much time, labor, and money are lost.

Several atternpts'have been made, and various contrivancesfor enclosed kilns have been patented. Only one has achieved even a small degree of success, and the enormous cost attending its construction places it entirely beyond the reach of moderate means, and hence precludes its general use; while all the rest, so far as they have been practically tested, utterly fail, from the unequal application of the heat, a portion of l the bricks being burned black, cracked, and warped,v

While others 'are salmon colored. This resultslsolely from an 'imperfect distribution of the heat generated. To avoid these and other defects of existing methods, and to secure advantages not hitherto attained, is the object ofthis invention.

As above intimated, the grand feature 4 of this improvement is the heat-distributing reservoir upon the car or truck. By this novel and important device,

the heat is evenly and properly distributed throughf out the entire mass of bricks, as above, and the platform upon which they are piled, being constructed of tile or other fire-proof material, receives unharmed the first force of the incoming flame and heat. No

bricks are spoiled, but all within the kiln are of n'ecessity baked to a uniform* hardness and color, while, by means of the-dampers on one side, and the fuelfeed on the other, the amount of heat necessary, at different stages, can be instantly diminished or increased toany degree required, and its. intensity grad uated with light.

The various other advantages of this, over all other known plans for drying and burning bricks, will more fully appear in the following detailed description of the several parts of my invention, and which will also enable others skilledin the art to make and use thesame, referencejbeing made to the annexed drawing for afuller illustration thereof.

the ease and facility of an ordinary gas- A1A2 indicate the extremelouter walls inboth figs. y

1 and 2, A* being' the burning, A, the drying-compartment.

The entire kiln, including the division-walls, may

be constructed of any kind of brick desired or most "convenient, The outer vwalls and roof should be made either double vor very thick, in order to avoid loss of heat by radiation.

The main doors, of the kilns, represented by sundry dots, o o o o, must be nearly the f ull size of the end ofthe kiln, should be made double, with space between, and may be constructed of` sheet-iron, or` other suitable material. It the kiln be quite small, a door at. one end willanswer; vif large', there should be doors'at each end.

and connected therewith by suitable eyes or openings, h, for the passage of the fire and heat into the distributing-chamber f, and g is a large pipe orheatconductor, made of incombustible materials, properly connected with said opening7 hinsuch manner as to readily allow all the ame and heat to pass into the;

distributing-chamber f, at the same time be easily ldetachable wheri necessary to move the car C.

D indicates the valves or dempers withinandat'the Bl B-2 represent the furnaces, at the side of the kiln, A

' further angle of the drying-kiln;

` which may be perforated in the same manner.

4chamber receiving the rst, force of the fire,

top of the fines, formed by capping over the narrow space between the division-walls at l of the drying and burning-compartments.

t denotes the ontlet from flue j.

At k is seen the inlet for -the heat from said line to the drying-kiln, or', rather'throngh similar heat-conductors, g, into the distributing-chamber thereof.-

By means of these dampers, working on theV top of the kiln, as seen infigs. 1 and2, the heat in both compartments is at 'all 'times under the most perfect control, any desired amount may heV accumulated and retained within the burning-chamber, or it may vvbe equally divided between the two, or by a proper regulation of 'the dampers, the whole thrown out, vor any required degree of heat maybe kept in both compartments, and its intensity regulated to a perfect nicety.

As a general rule, there may be two outlets (dampers) and t'wo eyes or openings to each car of ve thousand bricks. v

lml m denote the smoke-stacks, placed one at each and if the kilns be other 'fines may be required, in order to pre- A damper the burning-kiln into the very long, serve the equilibrium of the draught.

` placed in each stack is sometimes found useful. strongly made, and

I use any suitable platform-car, run upon light rails, in the usual manner.

This car consists of a doubleplatform. The lower one may be composed of iron, the upper one, and its supports, of fire-tile or slabs, or any inccmbustible material, so arranged as to leave a suiicient space between tthe two, say six to ten inches in depth, for the reception of the heatv from the furnace, led therein through a pipe, g, as seen in fig. l. This upper platform or top of the chamber is thickly perforated with long, narrow holes, as clearly seen at E in iig. 2 o o o o.

All over 'this platform are piled the bricks, in the usual manner, for burning.

Theithree sides of the distributing-chamber farthest from the furnace are enclosed with similar materials, The

upper platform should be made of good material, and

, be very lstrongly supported upon nume'rous standards or legs resting upon the platform beneath.`

Into this chamber or distributer, thus formed, are forced the fire `and heat from the furnace, when their own pressure drives them through thc slits in the slabs, and they are evenly distributed through all the mass of bricks above. The {ire-proofmaterial of the car or none of the bricks ,are overdone, While ,all are baked to uni form consistency and color.

Attached to furnace Bl are supposed to be two other similar kilns, it being a duplicate system throughout.l

The furnaces are adapted and designed for the consumption of coal, wood, or pet, and also petroleum or `and placing in their stead, at trifling cost,the requisite oil-burning apparatus. i Other modes of distributing the heat may be used -in this connection, and the above lsystem isalso apsystem to the purpose required.

derived from the use of my improvement:

A saving of four-fifths of all the fuel formerly used. A saving of all the heat from the burning-chamber, usually wasted, and using it up inthe drying-compartment.

-but the heat being equalized throughout the entire mass, all are baked to a uniform hardness and color. A saving of one and two handlings of the bricks.

Making a better quality of bricks at a cheaper rate, especially when liquid fuel is used.

Its simplicityfdurability, cheapness, and the ease and facility with which it is worked and regulated.

Having thus described andv illustrated my invention,

What I claim as new, and desire 'to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is'- The combination and arrangement of .the drying-chamber A, burning-chamber A1, with valves or damper 1), the perforated movable platform or car O, with a heatdistributing reservoir, consisting of chamber j' and pipeg, and furnaces Bl and B2 all constructed and operating substantially as set forth.

ALFRED J. WORKS.

Witnesses;

WM. BARKnn, DANIEL F. JOHNSON.

other liquid duid, by simply remoriing the grate-bars,

V4plicable where no other material is usedfor a chamber material to be burned will be necessary' to adapt this The following are brieily some of the advantages No blackened, warped, cracked, nor salmon bricks,A

herein described 

